Running a toy business is not a license to print money even at Christmas - bankrupt Lionel Playworld makes that clear - but everything seems to be falling into place for the Gohlinghorst family's rapidly expanding toy enterprises.
No, their name isn't yet synonymous with F.A.O. Schwartz or Toys R Us, but give the Salt Lake-based Gohlinghorsts time . . . they're giving it their best shot.Since Greg Gohlinghorst launched the first Gregory's Toys and Adventures at 6900 S. Highland Drive in 1987, the chain of specialty toy stores has grown to a total of six in Utah, California and New Mexico, and the seventh will open this month in Las Vegas.
Also, Greg and his father, George, and brother, Gary, have formed GG Enterprises Inc., which is manufacturing and/or distributing nationally a variety of toy products, all of which have sprung from the creative minds of Utah inventors.
Under the corporate makeup of the two companies, George is chief executive officer of GG Enterprises and Gary is president. Greg is president and founder of Gregory's, the retail operation. Both companies are family owned.
The family is also getting ready to franchise Gregory's, with the first franchised store expected to open in Orlando, Fla., by next summer.
"The franchise thing is very exciting," said Greg. "I expect to one day see Gregory's all over the country."
But not anytime soon, he concedes. "We will play it very close to the vest when it comes to growth. We want to keep the Gregory's philosophy intact."
That "philosophy" has been the touchstone of the company since day one and has allowed Gregory's to carve out a successful niche in a business that most people thought was already well covered.
Under the Gregory's philosophy, explained Greg, you don't stock Mattel, Fisher-Price, Tyco and some of the other heavy hitters of the industry whose products are bought in freight-car volume by the big chains and sold at prices a small retailer can't match, let alone undercut. Want the latest Barbie? Don't look for her at Gregory's, she's not there.
Neither are Nintendo, Sega, Mutant Turtles, GI Joes, guns, swords, knives or other "pretend" weapons of death and destruction.
Instead, the Gregory's philosophy means stocking Playmobil, Lego, Brio, Erector sets, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys . . . classic toys that today's parents played with when they were kids, and some new ones, such as Darda, a friction-powered race set that Greg believes today's kids will still treasure when they haul them out for their own children a couple of decades from now.
"Our customers say they are tired of laying out money for toys that are broken or discarded by noon on Christmas Day."
Instead, he said, they want toys that teach, fascinate, captivate and, perhaps most importantly, last.
That means Gregory's probably won't be carrying this year's "as seen on TV" hot item that will be gone and unlamented long before next Christmas. But that doesn't mean some toys don't do better than others, even at Gregory's.
Asked what his No. 1 hit has been, he says it is probably Geo Safari, a fun but challenging learning game that can be continually upgraded with new material. Biggest loser? Probably "Adopt A Doll," an "orphan from down under" imported from Australia.
GG Enterprises has had good success with a line of games played on pieces of indoor/outdoor carpet that the company manufactures in its new plant in Midvale.
Sport-Winks, as the two tiddlywink games are called, include Golf-Winks and Hoop-Winks - the latter promoted by Utah Jazz guard Jeff Malone. Hopscotch rug and Marble Mat Shootout are just what they sound like. Flappers, "the no- maintenance pets" (wooden push toys), and La-Dee-Doll Babee, "the paper doll that's not paper," are also doing well.
The GG toys are being marketed nationwide - the company currently has some 500 national accounts - and they will be showing them in February at the giant New York Toy Fair. After that, it's off to Paris and Germany on a buying trip and then Tokyo to check out the Asian market.
While other toy retailers are predicting "average" Christmas sales this year, Gregory's is looking for a "double-digit" increase this year over last. He won't divulge sales and earnings figures for the closely held companies, "but I'll tell you this, we're not a mom 'n pop operation anymore."
Greg launched the company on little more than a casual comment made eight years ago at breakfast by a friend of his mother's. The woman said that Salt Lake City really needed a good upscale toy store, something more akin to Gepetto's workshop, than the "stack it deep and sell it cheap" chain stores.
Having spent his early career selling home furnishings for corporate giants Dayton Hudson and The May Co., Greg had an entrepreneurial itch. On that same day in early 1986 he got out the Yellow Pages, paid a visit to all of the Salt Lake toy stores listed, and decided that afternoon that his life was about to take a radical turn.
Since then, there's been no looking back, and while the company is currently owned soley by the Gohlinghorst family, Greg would not rule out going public at a future date.
"Maybe down the road, once the franchising takes hold," he speculated. "But for now, we are very focused and have things well under control. We want our franchise agreements to be written really tight so that no one can go outside our philosophy."